Cardinal football announces '06 OOC schedule

The University of Louisville football program has finalized its 2006 non-conference schedule and has also finished its out of league opponents through the 2008 season.

The Cardinals open their fourth season under head coach Bobby Petrino in 2006 when intra-state rival Kentucky comes to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Saturday, September 2. The Cardinals and Wildcats will meet for the 19th time in what has become one of the nation's top rivalries. Kentucky leads the overall series, 10-8, but the Cardinals have won the last three meetings and six of the last seven.

Louisville hits the road for the first time on Saturday, September 9 with a visit to Temple to face the Owls in a return game from the 2003 season. The Cardinals and Owls last played in 2003 with Louisville winning, 21-12, at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Temple still holds a 3-1 series advantage.

Louisville will make it's first visit atKSU Stadium on Saturday, September 23rd

The second home game of the season will be one of the biggest when national power Miami invades PJCS for the first time and makes its first appearance in Louisville since 1984. In 2004, the two teams played one of the most exciting games of the season, with Miami coming out ahead 41-38 at the Orange Bowl. Louisville has never beaten Miami, trailing 0-9-1 in the series.

Louisville will hit the road again on Saturday, September 23 to face Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan. This wll be the first meeting between these schools.

The Cardinals will not play on Saturday, September 30, their first off week of the season, but returns to action on Friday, October 6 when the Cardinals play Middle Tennessee State in Nashville, Tenn. at Aldelphia Coliseum, the home of the Tennessee Titans.

"This schedule will be a tremendous challenge for our football team," said Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino. "But it's a great home schedule for our fans with games against Kentucky, Miami, South Florida and West Virginia coming to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in 2006. Our non-conference schedule is intruiging with games at Temple, and our first-ever appearance at Kansas State and a trip to Nashville to play Middle Tennessee State. I'm excited for the upcoming season because of the quality of competition we'll be playing next year."

Louisville has also finalized its non-conference opponents for the following two seasons, but the dates will be released at a later time.

The 2008 slate features the home opener against Kentucky with additional home games with Kansas State and Middle Tennessee State. Louisville will also face Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt away from home in '08.